Russia and China 'break Darfur arms embargo'

Mi-24 helicopter gunships have been photographed in Darfur

By David Blair, Diplomatic Correspondent

12:01AM BST 09 May 2007

Russia and China have broken a United Nations arms embargo by supplying Sudan with attack helicopters, bombers and other weapons in the knowledge that they are being use against civilians in Darfur, Amnesty International said yesterday.

Chinese strike aircraft and Russian helicopter gunships have been photographed at three airports in Darfur. Their presence violates UN Resolution 1591, which banned Sudan from transferring any weaponry to Darfur without the Security Council's official permission.

Both Russia and China approved the passage of the resolution in March 2005. But Amnesty's new report finds that both countries went on to breach the very arms embargo they were party to imposing.

China sold arms and ammunition worth £12 million to Sudan in 2005, along with spare parts worth £30 million for military aircraft.

Related Articles

In the same year, Russia sold helicopter gunships worth almost £7 million to the Khartoum regime. Belarus, a close ally of Russia, exported 32 heavy artillery guns and nine armoured fighting vehicles. China also sold six K8 training aircraft to Sudan's air force. Another six of these jet planes, which could be used for ground attack missions, are due to be delivered soon.

Sudan has carried out numerous air strikes against civilian targets in Darfur, in breach of a no-fly agreement signed in 2004. Four years of civil war between the Arab-dominated regime and black African rebels have forced at least two million people to flee their homes and claimed about 300,000 lives, either from violence, starvation or disease.

Russia and China "cannot have been unaware of reports of serious violations of human rights and humanitarian law by the Sudanese security forces," says the report. "But they have nevertheless continued to allow military equipment to be sent to Sudan."

Amnesty adds that both countries "have been or should have been aware" that "several types of military equipment, including aircraft, have been deployed by the Sudanese armed forces for direct attacks on civilians and indiscriminate attacks in Darfur".

In addition, Sudan's air force routinely employs Antonov 26 transport aircraft - all made in Russia - as heavy bombers. At least one of these planes has been sprayed with white paint and given fake "UN" markings in order to disguise it as a UN aircraft.

Moreover, small arms supplied by Russia and China have been passed on to the notorious "Janjaweed" militia, an armed group raised by Khartoum to combat Darfur's rebels. These gunmen have been turned loose on black African tribes and given carte blanche to loot and murder.

Weapons supplied by Russia and China have even found their way into the hands of rebel groups in neighbouring Chad.

Russia officially denied breaching the arms embargo and said that it "unswervingly" enforces UN Resolutions.